The "Luck" Horse Death Lawsuit Against HBO Will Be Likely Dismissed

Newsflash from your Hollywood Attorney:

Barbara Casey sued the network for allegedly pressuring the American Humane Association to look the other way on mistreatment of the animals, which she says led to her termination.

After a court hearing on Wednesday, Los Angeles Superior Court judge Maureen Duffy-Lewis indicated that she was leaning to dismiss HBO from a lawsuit that contends the network played a role in the firing of an animal-rights advocate.

Barbara Casey, who worked as the director of production in the American Humane Association's film and television unit, sued her former employer after being terminated after 13 years of service. The straw that broke the horse's back, she alleged, was after she urged the AHA to do more about horse deaths on the canceled HBO series Luck, a horse racing drama starring Dustin Hoffman.

She didn't just sue the AHA for wrongfully terminating her in violation of public policy. She also attempted to hold HBO as well as Stewart Productions responsible for "aiding and abetting a wrongful termination."

In response, the production defendants argued there was no such legal claim.

Judge Duffy-Lewis seems to agree, saying that she would do some last-minute homework before coming to a firm conclusion by the end of the week.

The HBO series was canceled after several horses died and groups like PETA raised public hell. After the show was put to sleep, the network said it took "every precaution to ensure that our horses were treated humanely and with the utmost care, exceeding every safeguard of all protocols and guidelines required of the production."

In her lawsuit, Casey disagreed with the assessment.

The production companies wanted to save time and money, said the lawsuit, and that rather than cooperate with AHA, HBO and Stewart allegedly pressured the organization to allow them to violate the AHA's animal safety standards.

When one of the horses named Hometrader died, Casey says she was told by the AHA "not to document [Hometrader's] death because he was killed during a summer hiatus from filming and therefore did not count."

Casey even wanted to contact the authorities, but allegedly wasn't allowed to do so by superiors.

But the responsibility of the production companies for what happened within AHA's ranks is a separate issue, argued Jolene Konnersman, attorney for HBO and Stewart.

"The plaintiff has sued two entities she acknowledges were not her employers and which she acknowledges did not make the decision to terminate her," said Konnersman at the hearing, adding "One of the defendants, HBO, merely aired the show Luck; they were not involved in the production of the show. The plaintiff is trying to pull in third parties that have nothing to do with her employment."

Addressing the plaintiff's aiding and abetting theory, Konnersman further told the judge, "There has been no recognition of such a tort in California law."

The parties discussed other cases with somewhat similar situations. One -- Weinbaum v. Goldfarb -- didn't get very far before it was dismissed on a demurrer.

Read More... http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/luck-horse-death-lawsuit-hbo-583116

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Humane Society Lawsuit with HBO on the way horses are treated in TV show "Luck"

 HBO has responded in court to former American Humane Association employee Barbara Casey, who was allegedly fired from her job after objecting to the way horses were treated on the TV series Luck.

Casey was the director of production in the AHA's film and television unit, and in January, she filed a lawsuit in L.A. Superior Court. She claimed her ex-employer had wrongfully terminating her and that HBO and Stewart Productions had aided and abetted a cover-up months before the series starring Dustin Hoffman was canceled.

Aiding and abetting a wrongful termination?   HBO says there is no such thing.

According to a demurrer that was filed by the production companies last week, California law doesn't recognize a claim against a non-employer in the context where the termination was supposedly wrongful because it went against public policy.

As HBO papers lay out, "Because the Production Defendants were not Plaintiff's employer, they cannot be bootstrapped into liability for the allegedly wrongful termination under a theory of 'aiding and abetting' in that termination."

In her lawsuit, Casey says the AHA observed mistreated horses. Casey was interested in reporting the alleged wrong-doings to the authorities but says she was instructed not to by her superiors at AHA. She alleges the production companies pressured the organization to allow them to violate the AHA's animal safety standards.

When Casey's lawsuit was filed, HBO said that it "took every precaution to ensure that our horses were treated humanely."

Now comes the legal response that takes issue with the plaintiff's attempt to drag the production companies into a battle between Casey and the AHA on an "aiding and abetting" charge. HBO's lawyer says there's been only one case (Weinbaum v. Goldfarb) that has ever attempted to make such a claim against a third party for a conspiracy to wrongfully terminate, and in 1996, a California appeals court affirmed a dismissal.

"To the extent Plaintiff is asking this Court to create a new cause of action, that invitation should be declined," say the production defendants.

Even if Casey's claim is deemed to be within the bounds of law, HBO says that she hasn't made specific enough allegations of fact to hold it liable.

According to the latest court papers (with defendants emphasis), "The (First Amended Complaint does not allege who at HBO or Stewart allegedly engaged in tortious behavor and what authority those persons had to act on behalf of either of them, what advice HBO or Stewart allegedly provided to the AHA relating to Plaintiff's termination, how HBO or Stewart allegedly 'encouraged' or 'assisted' the AHA in terminating Plaintiff, or what sort of 'moral support' HBO or Stewart allegedly provided to the AHA."

Read More... http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/hbo-fights-back-luck-humane-443941

Universal, Paramount's Brad Grey at War Over $50M in 'Sopranos' Profits

Arbitration has begun over whether Grey, who executive produced the HBO mob drama, must split revenue with the NBCUniversal-owned studio. Universal has put a hit out on Brad Grey for allegedly not sharing $50 million or more in profits from The Sopranos.

NBCUniversal-owned studio has filed a confidential arbitration claim against the Paramount chairman and CEO for failing to honor a 50-50 profit-sharing arrangement on the hit HBO series. Grey, who was a principal at the Brillstein-Grey management/production company before taking the reins of Paramount, executive produced on the long-running mob drama and is believed to have earned tens of millions of dollars from its success.

Universal in 1996 bought half of Brillstein-Grey, but divested its interest in the company in 1999. At the time, sources say the studio and Grey entered into a separation agreement that divvied up rights to several TV projects in development. Sopranos was one of those projects, and Universal is arguing that the separation agreement entitles it to split Grey's profits from the show.

Grey is said to have been paid $50 million or more in revenue from HBO, which could entitle Universal to $25 million or more if it is successful in the arbitration. The claim was filed in December, according to sources.

The dispute is a holdover from Grey's pre-Paramount life as a top manager and producer. Still, it's extremely rare for a top Hollywood executive to be targeted in such a way by a rival studio. Making matters more noteworthy, Grey and Universal COO Ron Meyer are said to be close friends.

The legal dispute had been brewing for some time, but Universal escalated the fight in December, hiring litigator Daniel Petrocelli at O'Melveny & Myers to initiate the arbitration proceeding. Grey has hired Evan Chesler at the white-shoe New York law firm Cravath Swaine & Moore to handle the case.

Read More... http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/universal-paramounts-brad-grey-at-421724